Friday First Free Practice - Spanish GP

New rule changes posed no problems for McLaren's David Coulthard as he topped the times in the first practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix on Friday.

The return of traction control failed to knock the lead runners from the top of the pile, and Coulthard finished the session more than four-tenths up on the Ferrari pair of Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher.

Schumacher's younger brother Ralf, fresh from winning his first Grand Prix at the last race in San Marino, finished in fourth as Mika Hakkinen failed to top him and ended fifth, more than 0.8 seconds down on his team mate.

Local driver Fernando Alonso and Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi were the first drivers out on the circuit as they faced track temperatures of 22 degrees Celsius.

Ulsterman Eddie Irvine set the fastest time in the opening quarter of the session before Scot Coulthard moved to the top of the timesheets with a lap almost six-tenths of a second quicker than Michael Schumacher's pole time last year.

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya locked his front left wheel when approaching a corner 27 minutes into the session and spun on the exit in his Williams.

Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen spun off into the gravel two minutes later as drivers got used to their traction control settings at the Barcelona circuit.

Barrichello also drove into the gravel but recovered to move into second place.

Pos. Driver Team Times 1. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:20.388 211.823 km/h 2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:20.823 + 0.435 3. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:20.992 + 0.604 4. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:21.259 + 0.871 5. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:21.265 + 0.877 6. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:21.815 + 1.427 7. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:22.020 + 1.632 8. Trulli Jordan Honda (B) 1:22.194 + 1.806 9. Frentzen Jordan Honda (B) 1:22.221 + 1.833 10. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:22.561 + 2.173 11. Raikkonen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:23.042 + 2.654 12. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:23.213 + 2.825 13. De La Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:23.395 + 3.007 14. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:23.704 + 3.316 15. Bernoldi Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:23.784 + 3.396 16. Alesi Prost Acer (M) 1:23.979 + 3.591 17. Burti Prost Acer (M) 1:24.361 + 3.973 18. Fisichella Benetton Renault (M) 1:24.370 + 3.982 19. Verstappen Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:24.873 + 4.485 20. Alonso European Minardi (M) 1:25.199 + 4.811 21. Button Benetton Renault (M) 1:25.336 + 4.948 22. Marques European Minardi (M) 1:25.540 + 5.152 All timing unofficial